House bill would block IRS from enforcing 'Obamacare'

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill on a party-line vote Friday to block the Internal Revenue Service from enforcing the Affordable Care Act.

Four Democrats voted for the bill along with every Republican, The Hill reported. The bill passed 232-185.

Republicans have held 40 votes to block the healthcare law, commonly known as Obamacare. Any such bill would have no chance of passage in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority, and would be vetoed in any case if it were to reach the desk of President Barack Obama.

Republicans used debate on the latest bill to attack the IRS, under fire for allegedly singling out applications for tax-exempt status by right-wing political groups for greater scrutiny.

"The IRS is already out of control, abusing its power to tax and audit the activities of honest, hardworking Americans," Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee said. "The IRS has betrayed the trust of the American people."

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the longest-serving member of the House in history, said Republicans are fighting a rear-guard action.

"Aren't you embarrassed to go a 40th time in a fruitless, hopeless act? The Republican Party is like the Bourbons of France: they forget nothing because they never learned anything," Dingell said.